Tavistock

Tavistock sits on the banks of the River Tavy in West Devon, its very name born of the water that runs through it. An ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the South West, it wears its long history lightly. Records reach back to at least 961, when Tavistock Abbey was founded; today the atmospheric ruins lie at the heart of the town, a reminder of centuries past. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards had a population of 13,028, giving Tavistock a lived-in, connected feel without losing its character. Stroll streets that trade old stories for everyday life, feel the pulse of a market town and take in the knowledge that one of its most celebrated sons was Sir Francis Drake. With postcode district PL19, Tavistock offers a compact, evocative slice of West Devon — at once historic and welcoming, anchored by its river and its ruined abbey.